Railway



(No Model.)

T P. OHANDLBR, J1".-

RAILWAY. No. 346,724. 8, Patented Aug. 3, 1886.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THEOPHILUS P. CHANDLER, JR, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No, 346,724, dated August 3,1,886.

Application filed May 20,1885. Serial No. 166,080.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THEOPHILUS P. GHAN- DLER, J r., of the city andcounty of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania,haveinvented a new anduseful Improvement in Railways, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention has reference to railways, but more particularly electricrailways, in which the rails are formed of flexible metallic cables; andit consists in certain improvements upon Letters Patent granted to me onSeptember 16, 1884, and numbered 305,155, all of which are fully setforth in the following specification and shown in the accompanyingdrawings, which form part thereof.

The object of my invention is to provide suitable take-up or tensiondevices by which all slack in the cables may be taken up and the cablesmaintained under the requisite tension and thereby. prevent all unduesagging and lateral vibration.

In carrying out this part of my invention I prefer to provide at longdistances take-up devices capable of taking up all excessive slacknessin the cables, and between them on all of the supports, or as many asmay be found desirable,auxiliary take-up or tension devices, whereby thecables may be put under the requisite tension for practical operation ofthe railway.

My object is also to provide suitable bracing or trussing to cables ofthis system of railway in which the cables forming the rails aresupported at different levels, so that in very long spans the cablescannot separate, sag unequally, or have any material lateral vibration.This is particularly advantageous in crossing rivers when it is noteconomical nor desirable to build any or more than a very limited numberof supporting piers or abutments.

My object is also to so arrange the cables that they may be allowed todrop down into the river for the purpose af allowing a boat to pass overthem, thus in this novel manner constituting the equivalent of adraw-bridge without any of the great expenses incident thereto.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation of a portion of a railwayconstructed in accordance with my invention, showing the crossing of ariver and illustrating how the cables may (No model.)

be trussed and the draw for passage of boats may be made. Fig. 2 is asectional elevation of one of the main take-up or tension devices online as x of Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a plan view of same. Fig. 4. is asectional elevation of one of the auxiliary take-up or tension deviceson line y y of Fig. 5. Fig. 5 is a plan view of same. Fig. 6 is across-section of same on line 2 z of Fig. 5; and Fig. 7 is an elevationof a modified construction for operating the cables for the draw-bridge.

A is the upper cable, and B is the lower cable, upon which thesupporting, conducting, and guide wheels 0 of the car run. These cablesare supported on posts 0, arranged at given distances apart, and aresecured to suitable brackets, L and P.

The main take-up or tension consists of the following parts: L are twoshoes or brackets, arranged about twenty feet apart, and over which theends of the cable pass, the ends of which are secured to the linksM,having bolts M, one of which is provided with a righthandscrew-thread, and the other with a lefthand screw-thread, and workingover these screw-threaded bolts is the link M which, when turned, drawsthe two ends of the cable together or allows them to move apart,according to which way it is turned. This takeup device is bridged bythe U shaped rail N, which incloses the parts above mentioned on the topand sides, and is secured at each end to the brackets L, when it is alsomade tapering, so as to form a gradual rise.

The auxiliary brackets P are made with the two shoulders 19, over whichthe cable is drawn, a hollow or depressed portion into which the cableis drawn,and side extensions or rails,P, arranged upon each side of thecable and being raised sufficiently high at their ends that the wheelsare prevented from cutting the cable where it rests upon the shoulders1). These side rails, I support the car as it passes over the bracket.

Qis a strap having holes q 011 its ends, and is bent over to embrace thecable between the points 1;,and is hooked to the screw R,having the hookr at its upper end. This screw R passes down through the hole S in thebracket, and also througha washer or plate, S, and is provided with anut, B. By turning the said nut the cable is drawn down into the bracketor allowed to rise therein, according as to whether tension or expansionis required. The

5 hole S is made oblong so that the bolt R with its enlarged head may beinserted from below; but this is not essential.

The particular means shown for drawing down the cable from both sidesmay be greatly modified without in anywise departing from my invention;but the construction shown is simple,efl'ective, and cheap,and thereforemost desirable.

The trussing or bracing of the cables A and B may be donein any mannerdesired, either by simple triangular bracing orsuspension or bothcombined, as shown.

The combined action of the triangular-braces F and suspension and tiebraces E will effectively prevent separation or swinging of said cables,and they will support a traveling load with all the effects of a rigidtruss.

Where it is desired to cross a navigable river a short length of thecables A and B should be secured firmly at one end to their post,andhave their other ends secured to drums or wheels I, by which thesections H of these cables may be lengthened or shortened to the endthat they may beallowed to sag down until on the river bottom orsufficiently low to allow the passage of a vessel, thus forming adrawspan, G. These wheels or drums I may be rotated by gearing J orotherwise. The upper peripheries of the drums would be in line with thecables A and B, so that when the parts H of said cables are made tautthe treading line will be contiuous. It is evident that these cables I Imay pass over the guide-wheels,and both be wound upon a single drum, or,as shown in Fig. 7, the cables 11 may pass over guide-wheels H and bewound upon separate drums,and the end of the cables A and B,connectedrigidly to brackets A.

K is an electric generator and is adapted to feed positive and' negativecurrents of electricity to the cables A and B, one of which acts as thepositive conductor and the other the negative conductor; but it isself-evident that this system of railway is adapted to the use of othermotive power than electricity, though that is by far the mostpreferable.

The particular mechanism for actuating the sections H of the cables isimmaterial to my invention, and if desired, they may be paid out ortaken in from both sides simultaneously.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. A railway consisting of two cables, each combined with one or moremain take-up or tension devices, and a series of auxiliary tensiondevices to each of said cables, whereby the slack in the cables may betaken up and the requisite tension imparted, substantially as and forthe purpose specified.

2. A supporting cable combined with a main take-up to take up allexcessive slack in said cable, and a series of auxiliary tension devicesadapted to put the cable under the requisite tension, substantially asand for the purpose specified.

3. The main take up, consisting of the brackets L, bolts M, having rightand left hand screw-threads, and link M, in combination with cables A,which are supported upon suitable posts and forming with the take-up acontinuous railway for a motor, the upper portion of the cables and theframe or casing of the take-up being exposed from above, and form,substantially, a horizontal rail over which the motor-wheels may travelin running from cable to cable, substantially as and for the purposespecified.

4. The main take -up, consisting of the bracket L, bolts M, having rightand left hand screw-threads, and link M, in combination with rail N andcables A, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

5. The auxiliary tension devices, which consist of bracket 1?, havingshouldersp and rails 1?, made of cast-iron, strap Q, screw R, detachablyconnected to-the strap, and nut B, in combination with cable A,substantially as and for the purpose specified.

6. The bracket-casting I, made with two shoulders, 12, and the two rails1?, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

7. Suitable supports and two cables supported thereon at differentlevels from the ground and arranged parallel to each other, incombination with trussing or bracing uniting said cablestogether,whereby they become more or less rigid and are prevented fromvspreading in long spans, and a motor or car provided with supporting andguide wheels adapted to run upon both of said rails, substantially asand for the purpose specified.

S. A cable supported over a river and having one section thereof madeextensible, by-

which it may be allowed to sag down into the river to allow the passageof a vessel, substantially as and forthe purpose specified.

9. A cable supported overariver and having one section thereof madeextensible, by which it may be allowed to sag down into the river toallow the passage of a vessel, in combination with a drum upon whichsaid extra cable may be wound or unwound, substantially as and for thepurpose specified.

10. Two cables supported at different heights, carried upon suitablesupports and spanning a river, one section whereof is made extensible,so that it may be allowed to sag down under the water to allow vesselsto pass over it, in combination with two windingdrums upon which theexcess of the cables is wound or unwound, and gear mechanism connectingboth of said drums, by which they may both be rotated simultaneously,substantially as and for the purpose specified.

11. The combination of cable A, suppports 0, section of cable H,guide-wheel H, and within said rail and protected thereby,subwinding-drum I, substantially as and for the stantially as and forthe purpose specified. IO

purpose specified. v In testimony of which invention I hereunto 12. Thecombination of the brackets L and set my hand. 5 the rail N, connectingthem with the ends of THEOPHILUS P. CHANDLER, JR.

the cable A, and suitable take-up mechanism, Vitnesses: consisting ofright and left handed bolts M, FRANCIS S. BROWN,

and double-ended nut M located under and HENRY A. MoMURRoW.

